Even those who lost their homes through foreclosure or short sales still needed a place to live and desired to stay in the same general areas so they became renters.It is important to consider how the industry/business sectors which employ your target tenant pool are likely to perform during a downturn.

Cash out refi and heloc are not seeming options at this juncture since I just officially started my RE investing business, am self employed (debt/income ratio) and I'm working on improving my FICO scores. 

Which method is going to give you the best Future Value of Money, and get you to your goal faster?  

Am I going about evaluating this the right way or should I be using other methods? 

Some employ a very linear strategy, in that they always operate with the same strategy in the same asset class with the same geographical focus.

We've used Trulia, Zillow, Hotpads, Postlets, and Craigslist to post the ad, and we follow up with My Smart Move .com for the screening process.Is there a better site/method to your success?

Bandit signs are still an effective way to generate leads but it is important to be in it for the long haul and not rely 100% on that method alone. 

well it depends. if you want to use the brrrr method then the first option may be best for the refinance bit. however with a single family home you will take a bigger hit if they move out where as with the duplex if one moves out you still have half your income. theres pros and cons of both.

The best method I know is to post a 'real' ad on CL to explain what is going on (someone is posting your property for rent without your conscent) along with a link to the fake post and a request for the CL community to 'flag' the fake post.

I have an option to do a cash-out refi for a penfed 10 year balloon (3.875% interest, 30 year amortization) or a 30 yr fixed with a mortgage broker(4.75% interest) for my BRRR method strategy for a SFR rental.